6
THE
CITIZEN,
Prince
George
Wednesday,
June
30,
1976
3-
s
I
1.
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r
':.;
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ft,
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V
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tv
Alec
Nicholson
walked
to
the
Vanderhoof
area
in
1909
when
he
was
11
years
old.
Dr,
Al
Mooney
has
been
in
Vanderhoof
since
the
days
of
house
calls.
Birthday
events
The
village
of
Vanderhoof
is
celebrating
its
SOth
birthday
this
week
and
four
days
of
fes-.
tlvities
are
planned.
The
birthday
.
party
will
begin
at
10
a.m.
Thursday
with
a
:
community;
sports
day.
Games,
canoe
races
and
soft-ball
will
be
held
at
various
locations
throughout
the
town:
Friday
is
Pioneer
Day,
Old
timers
and
visiting
pioneers
of
Vanderhoof
will
be
honored
with
a
morning
of
music
at
Ferland
Park
and
a
tea
will
be
held
at
2
p.m.
in
Vanderhoof
Elementary
School
in
conjunct
tion
with
a
history
fair.
A
nationally
known
singing
group,
the
Allen
Sisters,
will
perform
-In
A.
W,
Mooney
Auditorium
at
7:30
p.m.
A
parade
will
move
through
the
streets
of
the
town
at
11
a.m.
Saturday
followed
by
an
afternoon
rodeo
at
the
stampede
grounds.
On
Sunday,
the
annual
air'
show
will
be
held
at
the
Vanderhoof
Airport.
.
u
Story
by
Gery
Ardley
Photos
by
Leh
Tenisci
Ena
Campbell
left
Vanderhoof
in
1927
but
she
comes
"home"
every
year.
TOWN
SO
Y
BARS
OLD
City
slic
created
VANDERHOOF
The
old,
timers
don't
speak
too
kindly
of
him..
',
Herbert
Vanderhoof,
the
man
this
'village
was
named
after,
was
a
city
slicker
with
a
pipe
dream,1
they
say.
!He
was
just
one
of
many
conniving
entrep
reneurs
with
great
plans
for
the,
newly-discovered
land
in
central
B.C.'
He
made
his
first;
mistake
:
when
he
established
the
town
of
Vanderhoof
on
the
wrong
side
of
the
tracks:
The
people
living
in
the
area
around
1915
wanted
it
three
miles
from
the
current
site.
But
Vanderhoof
had
the
money
so.Van-derhoof
had
the
choice,
His
second
mistake
was
the
hotel
he
established
for
retired
editors
and
writers.
It
was
to
be
a
haven
of
peace
and
solitude.
It
Was
built
but
the
Vanderhoof
money
ran
out
before
the
first
guests
arrived.
Vanderhoof
was
a
promotional
man
from
Chicago
who
came
in
after
the
Grand
Trunk:
Railroad
was
completed
in
1914.'
Founder
came
"by
cushion"
'
The
old
timers
would
say
he
came
in
on
a
"cushion"
(by
train)
.
Anyone
who
came
to
the
Vanderhoof
area
before
1914
got
there
the
hard
way.
The
Alec
Nicholson
way:
Nicholson
was
11
years
old
when
he
arrived
at
Milne
Landing;
where
Vanderhoof.
now
stands,
in
1909.
With
his
uncle,
a
cow;
a
calf
and
his
aunt
and
cousin
in
a
covered
wagon,
Nicholson
walked
fro
m
;
150
Mile
House
;
to
Milne
Landing
a
seven-week
trek
over
hills'
and
trails
so
narrow
he
had
to
widen
them
to
get
the
wagon
through.
There
were
only
six
white
people
at
Milne
Landing
when
Nichsolson
got
there.
He
spent
his
childhood
in
a
floorless
log
cabin
abandoned
by
a
trapper.
Nicholson
was
still
a
boy
when
the
natives
of
Bear:
Lake,
about
300
miles
north
of
Vanderhoof,
decided
to
wipe
out:
the
gradually
settling
white
population.
"They
got
as
far
as
Fort
St;
James
and
the
Indian
Chief
there
saved
our
lives,",
he
recalls;
"The
chief
told
the
Bear
Lake
Indians
that
white
men
has
big
guns
that
can
shoot
you
'
down
just
the,
way
the
Indians
cut
hay,"
The
natives
retreated.;
"But
you
know,"
says
Nicholson.
"Those
Bear
Lakers
are
still
pretty
bad."
Ena
Campbell
moved
to
Vanderhoof
in
1918
and
left
in
1927
to
become
a
nurse.
But
she
returns
every
year.
"Whenil
talk
about
home:
I
maan
Vanderhoof,"
she
says.
'She
remembers
the
days
when
the
village
was
getting
on
its
feet;
"There
were
a
lot
of
people
trying
to
promote
this
area
after
the
Grand
Trunk
went
through
in
1914,"
she
says.
"More
crooks
than
you
could
shake
a
stick
at."
Times
were
good
in
the
bid
days
when
the
population
was
less
than
200.
"We
had
better
times
then
than
young
people
do
no
w,"
she
recalls.
"There
were
sleigh
rides,
hockey
games
and
dances
that
everyone
men
women
and
children
attended.
You
learned
to
make
your
own
enter-'
tainment.
We
were
neyer
bored."
:
Betty,
Loper
was
born
in
1918
in
Hazelt'on
only
because
Vanderhoof
didn't
have
a
hospital,
She's
lived.in'
Vanderhoof
since.
People
don't
seem
to
leave
the
yillage,
she
says.
And
if
they
do
they
always
come
back.
Ernie
Philpott,
81,
is
back
for
the
50th
anniversary
celebrations.
And
he's
disillusioned.
He
moved
to
Vanderhoof
in
1929
In
a
Model
T
Ford.
He
built
a
garage,
helped
build
the
Co-(
operative
Association
grain
and
feed
elevator
and
spear-headed
the
Memorial
Arena.
His
garagp
was
torn
down,
the,
elevator
burned
down
last
September
and
the
arena
he
was
so
proud
of
was
destroyed
by
fire
just
two
weeks
ago.
Philpott
arrived
in
Vanderhoof
the
morning
of
the
arena
fire,
"I
stepped
out
of
my
car
and
it
was
smok-
ker's
dream
Vanderhoof
Teacher
Evelyn
Dickson
opened
her
name-sake
school
three
times.
ing,"
he
said.,
"Ohhh,-what
a
shock.
If
they
keep
burning
down
the
things
I
built
I'm
not
coming
back.
My
garage
was
torn
down,
my
.
house
was
torn
down,
I
was
one
of
the
nuts
to
start
the
arena
and
now
that
and
the
elevator
'
are
gone",
,
,
There
are
just
two
buildings
in
Vanderhoof
named
after
residents
a
brother
and
sister
team.
The
Evelyn
Dickson
Elementary
School
is
named
after
a
long-time
teacher
of
the
Vanderhoof
Elementary
School
and
the
A.
Mooney
Auditorium
is
named
after
her
brother,
a
Van-,
derhoof
doctor
since
1947.-
.
Though
Mrs.
Dickson
has
never
taught'
at
her
name-sake
school
she
has
opened
it
three
times.
It
started
as
a
four-room
school
and
Mrs.
.Dickson
officiated
at
its
first
opening.j
When
'additional
rooms
were
built
on
it
she
opened
it
again
in
February,
1974.
Four
months
later
it
burned
down;
was
rebuilt
and
opened
again
in
,
December.
Mrs.
Dickson
f
officiated
;
at
;
the'
opening
ceremonies
again:
Dr.
Al
Mooney
was
the
lone
medical
doctor
of
Vanderhoof
from
1947
to
1952
-
back
in
the
days
of
house
calls:
A
house
call
for
him
didn't
always
mean
packing
his
black
bag
in
his
car
.
and
driving
off
to
a
nearby
farm.
It
could
mean
packing
it
in
a
boat,
a
sled
or
on
a
cart
packed
with
manure
and
riding
several
miles
through
the
bush
in
sub-zero
weather
to
deliver
a
baby
or
tend
to
a
fever.
When
Dr.
Mooney
moved
i
to
Vanderhoof
there
was
a
sign
at
the
side
of
the
road
saying
the
village's
population
was
551.
Now
there
are
about
2,000
people
in
the
village
limits
and
some
people
say
'there
are.
twice
as
many
in
the
area
surrounding
Vanderhoof.
.
The
stability
of
the
village
appealed
to
Dr.,
Moopey
when
he
first
arrived.
The
town
didn't
seem
to
be
severely
affected
by
wars
or
the
depression
of
the
1930s.
And
the
people
of
Vanderhoof
are
there
by1
choice,
Nobody(has
to
live
there,
says
the
doctor.'
,
.
"Hike
the
country
and
that's
still
the
reason
,
for
people
coming
here,"
he
says.
"People
sel-
.
dom
come
here
because
they
haveo.
There,
are
no
businesses
here
Jhat
are
part
of
a
chain'
so
people
aren't
transferred
here."
The
lifeline
of
Vanderhoof
is
the
forest
ln:
'
dustry
but
many
people
run
small
farms
on
the
side.
The
old
timers
remember
the
Vanderhoof
of
long
ago.
Some,
like
Alec
Nicholson,
re-,
member
the
pre-Vanderhoof
days,
others
remember
the
abandoned
writer's
hotel
established
by
Herbert
Vanderhoof,
Some
came
by
cushion,
-
others
got
to
Vanderhoof
the
hard
'
way.
.'
.
..
'
,
,
rNow,
on
its
50th
birthday
there's
just
one
fact
.missing.
Nobody,
not.
even
Mayor
Bill
McLeod,
can
recall
the
date
the
town
was
in-'
'
.corproated.
..
.
But
they'll
'celebrate
its
birthday
in
grand
style
anyway.